Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will know on May 23 whether he would succeed in obtaining a summary judgment before Kuala Lumpur High Court against Harakahdaily over a report related to his step-son Riza Aziz and 1MDB.

Justice Hue Siew Kheng fixed the date in her chambers after hearing submissions from lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun for Najib and Wan Rohimi Wan Daud for Harakah.

Speaking to reporters after the proceeding, Hafarizam said he submitted that the article which appeared in the PAS mouthpiece was defamatory and the defences of qualified privilege and justification cannot be used.

"This follows Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report dated April 7 which found that Najib had no involvement with what happened to 1MDB," he said.

Najib named Harakah managing director Dr Rosli Yaakop and Harakahdaily chief editor Taufek Yahya as defendants in the defamation suit filed on March 18 last year, following the publication of the article which was mainly based on a New York Times report.

In his statement of claim, Najib had said the article portrayed him as having misused 1MDB funds and that the publication of the article was intended to tarnish his reputation.

He also alleged that Taufek failed to practice responsible journalism and did not verify whether the contents in Rosli’s article were accurate before publishing it.

A summary judgment is a court decision without going through a full trial where the case would be decided on points of law.

It was previously reported that the Court of Appeal had dismissed Najib's application to strike out two paragraphs from the defence of Harakahdaily.

On Monday, Najib and his wife had failed to get a summary judgment in their suit against Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming who made a Facebook posting alleging Rosmah participated in a cabinet meeting.